Half-way through my post-bacc program, I find myself with straight Bs. Well, a C+, two B-'s, three Bs and a B+. I had a 3.8 GPA prior to this program, and now my gpa is down the tubes. I have definitely questioned whether going to Columbia was worth it. The curve at Columbia is very competitive because virtually all the students come in with high GPAs and pretty excellent study habits. But while studying amongst all these high performing students improves my own study habits, my grades are so much lower than I am used to.

I wonder if the grades I am getting will get me into med school? I do not need to go to a top tier school at all. In fact, I would probably prefer to go to a middle-tier school that focuses on primary care, and would most prefer a SUNY (state) school, which is much more affordable. I would also be totally happy to go to an osteopathic school (though would prefer a state school to save money). But I am really worried I won’t get in anywhere.

I just bought the “Official Guide to the MCAT Exam” from AAMC and Chapter 5 covers MCAT scores and GPA and how that factors into schools’ decision making process. There’s a good Table that also shows percentages of accepted applicants across all ranges of GPA and MCAT so you can see what your odds are at different ranges.

They also talk about how some schools place more weight on certain aspects than other schools. So one school may be concerned about your Columbia post-bacc GPA but another may not be. You may want to get the book and check it out (plus it has a lot of good practice MCAT questions).